GREENWOOD – Lander placed five players in double figures and the Lady Bearcats used a 27-4 run midway through the second half, staying unbeaten in the Peach Belt Conference with an 84-60 victory over North Georgia College & State University Wednesday night at Horne Arena.

Lander won its sixth consecutive game, improving to 12-3 overall and 7-0 in the Peach Belt. The Saints fell to 9-6, 3-3.

Mukia Myrick led the Lady Bearcats with 17 points, Jasmine Judge and Janyce Ealey scored 16 points apiece, Kaylyn Small added a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds, and Ciara Lyons had 10 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

Small continued her impressive play, making four of five shots from the floor to improve her Peach Belt leading shooting percentage to 63.5 (54 of 85) percent. She also had three blocked shots.

Lander held the Peach Belt's leading scorer Jaymee Carnes to five points on two of 12 shooting. Carnes was averaging 27 points per game, including games where she had 40 and 39 points. Lyons came into the game second in the PBC in scoring at 15.7 points per game, almost 12 points behind Carnes.

Stephanie Huffman paced North Georgia with a double-double, scoring 21 points on nine of 14 shooting and adding 10 rebounds. Jasmine Manning parlayed a hot first half into 18 points. Huffman also had five assists and three steals.

Lander outrebounded the Saints 53-36 and forced 21 turnovers. The Lady Bearcats had 16 turnovers.

Lander made 32 of 75 shots from the floor (43 percent), 12 of 18 free throws (75 percent), and eight of 22 from 3-point range (36 percent).

North Georgia hit 24 of 65 shots (37 percent), eight of 10 free throws (80 percent), and four of 14 from behind the arc (29 percent).

The Saints, down by as many as 16 points in the first half, drew within a possession at 42-39 on a basket by Huffman one minute into the second half, and had a chance to tie, but Carnes' 3-point attempt was off the mark.

Both teams struggled to score points over the next few minutes. Ealey was the only player producing offense for Lander in the first part of the second half, making three baskets and one free throw to give the hosts a 49-41 lead at the 12:29 mark.

With 11:26 left, Precious Elkins became the first Lady Bearcat player other than Ealey to score points in the second half, making a pair of free throws to make it 51-43. That proved to be the start of the game-breaking 27-4 run.

Lander's starters went back to work when Judge converted her steal into a fast-break layup, Small scored inside, Judge hit a 3-pointer, Brittni Johnson made a steal and layup, Small hit two free throws, and Lyons made a driving layup off Small's defensive rebound and outlet pass to put the Lady Bearcats back up comfortably, 64-45, with 8:48 left.

After Carnes scored for North Georgia, Small made another layup, Myrick hit a 3, Small added one free throw, Myrick scored off a back-court steal, Judge swished a pair of technical free throws, and Lyons put back an offensive rebound to give the Lady Bearcats their largest lead of the game at 76-47 at the seven-minute mark.

With Lander leading 10-7 at the four-minute mark of the first half, Myrick ignited a 14-3 run with a pair of 3-pointers and a nice backdoor pass to Johnson for a layup and three-point play.

The run continued with a rare five-point possession. Johnson was fouled to the floor on a 3-point attempt and made the first two free throws but missed the third. Kami Phillips grabbed the offensive rebound and passed the ball out to Judge, who made a 3 to increase the Lady Bearcat lead to 24-10 at the 12:25 mark.

Judge hit two more 3s, upping Lander's lead to 32-16 with 9:16 left. Manning scored on consecutive trips to cut North Georgia's deficit to 12, and she added a 3-pointer and mid-range jumper to pull the Saints within 36-28 at the 4:16 mark.

After Lander's Myrick and North Georgia's Jessica Trice exchanged baskets, Lyons made a reverse layup to push the Lady Bearcat lead back to double figures at 40-30.

But Manning continued her torrid shooting, scoring twice more on mid-range jumpers, and Huffman added a 3 to close the Saints within a possession, 40-37, with 1:06 left. Huffman's basket completed a 21-8 North Georgia run.

Elkins made a tough shot inside with 17 seconds remaining, giving Lander a 42-37 lead at the break. North Georgia kept pace into the second half until the 27-4 run put the game out of reach.